Suspected terrorists of the Lakurawa sect assaulted Kebbe town in Kebbe Local Government Area of Sokoto State yesterday, killing no fewer than four troops.
Saturday PUNCH reported that the terrorists, totalling over 300, rode on motorcycles and engaged security officers in a gun duel as they targeted stores, a hospital and cars.
The heavily armed militants reportedly entered the town at approximately 10am, causing soldiers at a military facility on the outskirts of Kebbe to fire at them.
A security specialist in Sokoto, Bashar Altine who corroborated the development stated four troops were feared killed during the exchange of fire.
The casualty figure could not, however, be independently confirmed at the time of going to press.
The spokesman of the Sokoto State Police Command, Ahmed Rufai, said the command was still gathering information when contacted by our correspondent.
But Rufai claimed he could not confirm any injuries, including the reported deaths of four soldiers.
Efforts to get a confirmation from the spokesman of the 8 Division, Nigerian Army, Lt. Col. Olaniyi Osoba, failed as he had not responded to a message sent to him at the time of publishing the article. Africans & Diaspora
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Altine said that after the militants engaged the military, they advanced into the center of Kebbe town, notably the Sabon Gari sector, where they allegedly broke into shops and carried away significant quantities of mobile phones and bread.
He also said the terrorists shot at a military vehicle with a rocket-propelled grenade, breaking three of its tires and smashing its glass.
He claimed that the militants thereafter moved to the General Hospital, Kebbe, where they allegedly damaged the windows of vehicles parked within the premises, including a vehicle belonging to the Divisional Police Officer and an ambulance.
“They also took the mobile phones of the patients at the hospital,” said Altine.
He further said the militants stole away four motorcycles belonging to citizens as they started to pull out of the area.
He said the attackers later left Kebbe in the evening from the direction of the police station and proceeded for towns west of the town.
“Based on the reports we got from the villages around Kebbe, they came into the town of Ungushi, one of the districts in Kebbe Local Government Area,” he stated.
Altine further added that, although there were reports of exchange of fire with troops, there was no confirmation of any militants dead.
“As of the time of writing this report, we have not seen the body of even one Lakurawa fighter that the soldiers managed to kill,” he said.
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